


I Need to Know You're There

by Kyghause



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Magical Tattoos, Older Dipper Pines, Older Mabel Pines, Older Pines Twins, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 18:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8024278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyghause/pseuds/Kyghause
Summary: "Let's get matching tattoos"





	1. Ego cor tuum

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this, I hope you enjoy reading it!

“I can’t believe you’re leaving tomorrow.”

Dipper sighed, looking straight ahead from where he and his sister sat on the steps of the shack they’d spent their last six summers at. Tomorrow the bus would come and take his sister back home for a week, and then to college.

She looked at him with soft eyes, throwing her arm around his shoulders. “You know it's not late too late to apply for the spring semester.”

He met her eyes and gave a small smile, “I’d just get in your way.” He looked out towards the woods, “Besides, me and Ford have been planning this trip for months.”

“South America is so far though! And what if you don’t have reception and I can’t call you or you meet a new monster you don’t know how to fight and get hurt and I can’t get there fast enough and-”

“Mable.”

She frowned, a rare look for her, “Ya?”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, meeting new monsters is kind of the whole point of the trip.”

She huffed, leaning forwards on her elbow, “Maybe I should go with you, ya know, for backup.”

“Mable, this college is your dream, and I can’t deprive the world of the best future teacher ever,” Dipper consoled. 

Neither said anything for a while, trying to process what was happening. They would be apart, really apart, for the first time in their lives. They both knew it was for the best; that spending the next year apart would be a good opportunity for the both of them. But that didn’t make it any easier. 

They sat like that, reveilling in each other's presence, until Dipper broke the silence. 

“What if we got matching tattoos?”

“What?” Mabel asked, knowing Dipper’s many fears included needles. 

“We just turned 18. No one has to know if you don’t want them to. But if you don’t want to, it I get it,” he shrugged. 

Mable thought about it, trying to remember a spell she thought she read in one of her brothers journals. Something about binding, or bonding? 

“Let me see your journal,” she said, piecing together a plan. 

“Which one?” Dipper asked. He had started his own series of journals where he continued Ford’s work, and was on his second. 

“The one where you copied down the scroll from the cave with the jewels.”

“Oh, I have that in this one,” He said, pulling his most recent journal from his jacket. 

He flipped to the page she was talking about and handed it to her. Mable read of the text, reading ancient words and Dipper’s translation about different kinds of bonds. She found the one about sibling bonds. It was a spell of sorts - more of a chant- and a sigil, that was used when family members went on journeys. It allowed you to know when another was in trouble and feel their emotions to some extent. She showed the passage to her brother, “What if we got this as a tattoo?”

“Do you think it works?” Dipper asked, tracing the sigil with his finger. 

“Has ancient magic ever failed us?” Magic laughed. 

Dipper raised an eyebrow at her, “Ancient magic almost destroyed our town a few times.”

“But?” Mable waited.

“But, I think this could be cool, if it doesn’t backfire horribly on us,” he answered. 

“It’s like a long distance call from our hearts!” Mable beamed, proud of herself. 

Some detailed instruction reading and a phone call later, the twins found themselves outside the only tattoo parlor in town, Twisted Ink. 

The woman working the tattoo gun gave them a strange look when they showed her the symbol they wanted right over their hearts, but as this was no where near the weirdest thing she had tattooed on someone, said nothing. 

Soon enough Mable was in the chair, shirt pushed down enough to expose her sternum, and holding her brother’s hand. 

The woman gave a resigned look when they started whispering a chant of words she didn’t understand. 

The woman gave a defeated look when the ink on the girl's chest started to glow, questioning every decision that brought her to this time and place. 

None the less, she kept going, the glowing getting stronger and the chanting getting louder the further along she got. By the time she was almost done it was getting a little hard to see the skin she was inking, but she finished, and the light died down to the red of a fresh tattoo. 

Mabel stood up looking a little dazed and switched spots with Dipper. 

Almost the exact this happened with him, except he passed out a few minutes in. All this meant was that Mable chanted a little louder to compensate. 

After Dipper’s piece was done and he had woken up,ー apologizing profusely to the woman, who said nothing other than an “Its fine” and the price for both the tattoosー they paid with money from their birthday and tipped extra, feeling bad for making her go through there magical shenanigans. 

The pair walked out, not quite sure what to make of their situation now. They felt… different, but couldn’t pinpoint anything other than pain, more pain than should be normal. 

“Does your’s like, really hurt?” Dipper asked, grimacing as his shirt grazed his chest. 

Mable didn’t look like she was in any better shape than her brother, trying to put on her sweater but giving up. “A ton. Is this supposed to feel like this?” 

“Maybe it’s infected,” he said, sitting down on the curb outside the parlor. 

“Or…” Mable nudged his shoulder. “It worked!”

“I think it's a little early to say that.” 

She smiled, “No, it makes sense, we’re feeling each other's pain!” 

Dipper looked at his sister, a little skeptical, until he watched her close her eyes and scrunch her face up like she was concentrating really hard. 

Dipper chuckled at her face until he felt… something. Something that definitely didn’t come from him. It was a warmth, a bright glittery warmth in his chest, an energy he immediately recognized as his sister. He looked at Mabel, dumbstruck, and focus on the place he felt the warmth from. He tried to push some of his own energy towards her, and she gasped. 

“Do you feel that?” she asked, smiling even harder. 

He nodded, matching her grin. “Ya, I feel it.” 

They stood up, arms around each other's shoulders, and walked back to the shack, no longer afraid of leaving as long as they could always be with each other.


	2. Look like the innocent flower, but be the Serpent Underneath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We always see tattooed! Dipper so I wanted some tattooed! Mable. Plus I want this tattoo in real life.

Dipper had felt his sister’s pain twice since they had gotten their tattoos. Once, when she twisted her ankle rollerblading around the quad, and the other, when some guy at a party hit her.

He called her immediately, rubbing the sting out of his cheek where she must have been hit. 

“Mabel? Mabel! What happened? Are you ok?” Dipper asked, a little frantic. As much as he wanted to believe his sister had gotten in a fist fight, it didn’t seem likely. 

He heard her sobbing quietly on the other end, “Hey Dipper.” 

“Mabel, what happened?” he repeated his question, softer this time. 

She swallowed, “I was at this, party and things, got a little out of hand. I was, um, talking to this guy and he- he asked me if I wanted to go home with him? I said no, cause I didn’t, and he kept- he kept asking and he grabbed me and, he hit me.” 

“Did he do anything else?” Dipper questioned, worry filling his voice. 

“No. No, I ran. I’m walking to my dorm room,” Mabel answered, and Dipper could hear the noises of a college main street at night behind her. 

“I think you should call campus police, or tell someone, or-” 

“Dipper,” Mabel stopped him, “I’m going to get a tattoo, so don’t be worried if you feel something. I’ll call you when I’m done.” She hung up. 

Dipper put down the phone, confused and concerned. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mabel was tired. Tired of being treated like a child. Tired of being taken advantage of. She had defeated demons and goblins and a whole nightmare realm when she was 12, damn right she could take care of herself at 18. 

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, either. She starts a friendly conversation like she has with anyone, then suddenly the guy is leaning over her, touching her arm, fingers burning a path onto her skin that she feels for days, telling her she has to do something for him. She doesn’t even like boys in that way, so she recoils, but then the boy gets angry, calls her a tease. Most of the time, she runs, finds her friends. This was just the first time the boy hit her. 

She reached up and touched her cheek where the slap fell, wincing, as she walked back towards her dorm. The street was alive with the energy of a friday night, girls in short skirts party hopping, boys drunk of their ass ogling at them, neon signs lighting their way. Mabel looked all around her, pulling her jacket closer around her, when her brother called. 

She answered him, still looking around warily, when she she noticed the store she had stopped in front of. It read, “Third Eye Tattoo”. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dipper felt the sting of Mabel’s tattoo an hour after she called. It started at the base of his neck, and slowly encompassed his shoulders and the back of his arms. He was worried, to say the least, that this was a rash decision she would regret, but also that she used magic she wasn’t ready for, as the sting started slithering up and down his arm faster than an artist would be able to tattoo. 

He didn’t get an explanation until he came home that December for Mabel’s winter break. They still talked regularly, but she wouldn’t send him pictures, saying, “They wouldn’t capture the magic of it!” 

When he made it home from the airport, he was engulfed in a warm bear hug he knew could only be from his sister. After a little bit of just enjoying the hug, he pulled back, frowning when he found her wearing a sweater that covered the design he knew must be underneath. 

“So…” Dipper asked, getting impatient. 

Mabel cocked her head, feigning innocence, “Why, whatever do you mean, dear brother?” 

“Come on, Mabel, let me see!” 

“If you insist,” she complied, pulling her sweater over her head to reveal a tank top, and nothing else.   
“Where is it?” he asked, walking around her. 

“Just you wait!” she singsonged.

One moment it was an empty canvas, the next a rose budded from the back of her neck, sending dark green vines creeping and wrapping around her shoulders, her arms, more flowers growing intermittently. The design ended with a flower on the back of her hands, and she turned to look at him proudly. 

“Woah,” was all he could say, eyes glued to the red roses and vines still adjusting on his sister’s arms. 

“That’s not even all of it, bro-bro. Touch my arm,” she commanded, sticking it out in front of him. 

He did, “Nothing happened.” 

She shut her eyes and reopened them, “Try again.” 

He reached out and touched her arm, but instead of stillness, he found serpents, vibrants and hissing, coming from behind the flowers to slither around Mabel’s arms. As if that wasn’t enough, the one closest to his fingers jumped forwards, still 2d, and bit the area he was touching her, sending a shooting pain up his hand. 

He pulled his hand back, cursing, “Fuck, Mabes, are these things venomous?” 

“I’m afraid not, bro,” she said, chuckling. “They should still be effective bodyguards, though.”

“You can say that again,” Dipper said under his breath, rubbing his hand. “I just don’t get why you went through the trouble of all this. You know spells, can’t you just protect yourself with those?”

“I wanted to show everyone how something cute and harmless can still be dangerous, ya know. Plus, without the snakes, it's just super pretty,” Mabel replied, looking up and down her arms. 

Suddenly, Dipper got a thought, “What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?” 

She smiled, “Nothing, silly. I can do this.” 

Starting from her hands and working its way up, the flowers closed into buds and the retracted with the vines, crawling up until nothing remained. Eventually even the rose at the base of her next closed into nothing. 

“Man. You have to get me the number for that parlor.” 

And if Dipper left that break with protection runes swirling around back, at least his parents were none the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for reading. My tumblr is hellaqueerhellahere if you wanna stop by. Have a wonderful day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated. My tumblr is Hellaqueerhellahere if you want to come say hi or maybe give a prompt!


End file.
